The Sun. — London, England, 1838-04-27 00:00:00

HURCH EXTENSION.-THIS DAY. Th 2. Rev. Dr. CIIALNIERS this day delivered his second Lecture upon the establishment and extension of National Churches as aff,mling the only adequate machinery for the moral and Ch r i st i an instruction of the people. The subject of the second Lecture was the vindication of a national religious establishment in opposition to the reasonings and views of the economists. Long before the hour fixed for commencing the lecture (two o'clocl) the Great Hall of the H moverssquare Rooms was crowded in every part. Among the distin guished persons present were the Duke of Cambridge, the Earl or Roseherry, the Earl of Harrowby, Marquis Chola reondeley, the Earl of Jersey, the Earl of Wicklow, Lord As hley, Lord Sandon, the Bishop of Landaff, the Earl of Cawdor, Lord Workhouse, Lord Bexley, Sir G. Richardson, Lord Teignmouth, Colonel Ver ner, et ie., Honourable William Duncombe, M. P., Sir James Graham, M. P., Sir Stratford Canning, M. P., Sir R. I nglis, M. P, Sir George Sin c l a i r , M. P., W. E. Gl a d s t one , M.P., James Grattan, M. P., Charles Lushington, M. P., Henry Johnson, M. P., Mr. Ingham, M. P., &c. in consequence of the crowded state of the room, some confusion took place previous to the commencement of the lecture. Order having been restored, The Rev. Lecturer, who was loudly cheered on taking his seat proceeded.—Before entering on the persuasive find direct argument in favor of a national established refi tslee, he had endeavoured, in his last lecture, to do away with the initiss objections or prejudices which existed against it, as if the connection between the Church and State implied a secularisation of Christianity by which it was incapacitated either from withstaeding or maintaining the gospel all over the world, In those days of fierce partisanship they could not expect much of cool or clear discrimination. ?den %ere borne along hi woes, gs If by a gregarious im- PUlse in fa vour o f t h e popular prevailing cry. He recollected In Edinburgh a few years ago, vvlitti lectures were delivered, by is an -"Pinati clergyman of the Presbyterian denomination, but the connection tse.:7.en Church and State was no sooner —* spoken of tha n a fl a me % v s._ 0 lighted up all over the neeting - Al at hearing from i „ 0, and every one was enraptui `Le itlett of L e 'ins of an American clergymen, that s ti a nY such connection was held in perfect abomination e over America. He had afterwards ventured to make the whole lecture the subject of a conversation, and the first question was whether if a Christian philanthropist, actuated by a strong affection for a district in Maryland, should bequeath 10,0001. for the erection of Churches, and for the maintenance of Clergymen, providing that their Clergymen should be of his own denomination, and that they should b e under the controul of his own ecclesias tical system—whether such an endowment would be rejected by their deenmination, and designated unscriptural, or whether it would be Accepted by them as a means of extending their usefulness —there could be but one answer to that question ; that an endowment thus destined and thus placed under the guardianship of that which he deemed to be a scriptural Church, still adheri n g pp to the supposition that the clergyl seen und er t hi s endowment would be placed not in subordina-il tion to the State, but only to their ecclesiastical superiors, to the Presbyterian Synods, and General Assemblies ofAme il b ea, su c h an arrangement was a d m i t t e d by him to e de sirable. An if, si if so, would it not be equally desirable l nstead o f conf i ning It to one sma ll di str i c t, the character and efficacy of this systetn 5 ;,,.eu1d be spread over the whole of i ar y_ lead. To this he most reedily admitted that just as one me benefit muappleor m ultiplied by 750 wou ld not make 750 oranges—no in 750 w ould one r e li g ious multiplied 750 timessdesirable ivi ls—( Applause and laughter),— in 7o most en religious benefits.—(Renewed applause.) After this, the transition was not difficult, from the one single state ,of Maryland, to the whole United States of America, and the on l y a dj ustment b etween them which remained to be made was, whether such an endowment which would have so delighted th e i r h earts coming from a few generous individuals Would have been less desirable if it had originated in the state so many hundred years ago as a separate proprietary. The rejoinder was memorable—if this was all which was in cluded in an establishment—if it only meant maintenance on the part of t h e S tate an d uncontam i na t e d theology on the part of the Church, such an arrangement might unquestionablybe desirable. The thing which they deprecated was the authority:of the Civil Magistrat e in matters of religion, but they would be thankful to him or to any body else to give them what the Trans-At. lantic Clergyman called an organized provision for the Clergy.—( Hear, hear, hear.) That was all he (Doctor Chalmers) contended for—in other words, a legal provision for a Christian clergy, which could be gone to without infringing - upon the prerogative of the Church, or interference with her Ministry.—( Hear.) In fact his American friend had not made the proper distinction between the maintenance of the clergy, and a control over the administration of religion. When an orator denounced the connection between Church and State, the effect was instantaneous upon the minds of all those who did not reason logically, and who were borne away by the noise , and plaudits of a popular assembly, in which the small still armee of truth was overborne.—( Great applause.) With respect to the Established Church of Scotland, there was to each of its Members a free and independent voice within, and from . without therewas no interference. The Church of Scotland recoiled from all communication with the State except to be maintained by it, after which its Ministers were left to execute their great Commission with all the independence of the missionary abroad.—( Hear, hear.) 'There was nothing to interf e re with the independence and sanctity of their epos tolical character, if they themselves made no sur render of it. In things ecclesiastical they did all, in some of these they might be wrong, but then these were the act of the majority.--( Fiear hear.) They acknowledged no head but Jesus Christ--they acted in his name, and by his authority. There was not a clerical appointment which could take place i n any parish till they had assented to it. Even the Law of Patronage, with all its great interests, is not able to effect it. The power of the State upon die authority of the Church had no other basis than their majorities to rest upon. It sh ou ld not be forgotten that in things Ecclesiastical the highest power of the Church was not subject to mortal man ; it could raise or depress at pleasure any eccle siastical affairs, and it could make a Minister of the Church of Scotland, or unmake him. There was nothing the State could do to the Church but strip it of its temporalities. Not withstanding all the State could do, it would still remain a Church, and stand as ever in all things except the moral in jury that h ad been inflicted by the Acts of the State. i She would b e as mighty a Church in her days of suffering , as a a s ; t ier `lays of trinmph, although she would be looked upon , Q n outcast, and h a d on l y t h e li g h t o f t h e sun , an d the winds M. ' 'leaven to c h er i s h and support her.—(Cheers. ) H er a esty, re , atillbe ,6111 herself take her protection from her, but she would hirnseif toe same unfettered mistress of herself. The King might Chatham bject to her proceedings, but the statement of Lord s o En 4 who said that every man's house was his own castle migh t g bi ' o n d, applied equally to the Church. The storm s might „ fi r, the rains might enter every crevice, the win (Great cheering,) .ar g ou ) nd them, but the King dare not enter.— ther u o erne- . s n nwe.hat more lie was not able to expatiate far lecture') properly belonged to the last the present would now proceed to the subject of establis' was a vindication of a national religious the econo n'e4 w h it Pposit n to the reasonings and views of commercenlits.--( Cheers. ) By thu system of free trade and of demand operation and rami s fi n c p a p ti l o y n . s are left to the power and partie u lWhen the demand for Tree tradar commodities increased, it will be the interest of the .uced are to increase the supply, and when the demand was rna d r . e the supply should be reduced also, in order that the , e t might not be overstocked by any particular article. It • td a the clearest demonstration, that it was unwise in commerce to interfere with that law of action or re-action, or %might h e termed, the action of economy. The supply w as e or the duty of fell accordi ng as t h e d eman d rose or fell; an d it a Government not to interfere with it. 0 1 )1 r prep ares us to understand what is meant by a system reli ee trade in Christianity, which would leave the article of g" 2 inst ruct i on to the operation of the same l aws as an bee of ordinary commerce; i n ot h er wor d s , l ea ve it to e 'egulatcd b y the Hanle laws as commerce, and to be limited Y thn extent of th e d eman d i n th e mark e t. If such opinions . ? i t "re prevalent and were to be acted upon, then of course ; Must av in co mmerce , be made to suit the taste of the cuss ull/er- -it would fluctuate—it would be taken to those places f vv-4 ' ; re there was what was called an effective demand t °r ' t-- ( Cheers )—that is, where there is money enough h o e, “ I 'Ltre its success. A free trade in commerce only a ks in those places where there is such a . demand r ensure it a proper and remunerating e -4,esit leave s those pl ac es where from the smallness of d, t he fr a .nd the trade becomes a losing one. By a free trade in . r r e a l i g e n is meant of course the following up the sam b a plan . , in et g m l° o l ' .. , instruction would Cease in those places when . t ere was ce a , e te.l enough to pay for it—the lessons of religion would ea -) be tau g h t i n p l aces w h ore they were most wanted , be ie.Z here could he no supply, however grea t the demand. Let gi " a Wh ip° i c i l ic Y be pursued towards the Church, and that reli rally 1 was ordered to be preached to the p oor will natu teaeerave tho se p l aces where i t i s most wanted, and the their of that re ligion who, after the example of av oul d il g r eat Fou n d er, w ere to preach to t he p oor der the ° long er b e i n a situation to do so—they would be un fro n ecessit m their sl yof ceasing to pest mire of LiWtnber those who were make any attempt to waken spiritual death. That brief eye statornentere on the portals of sunk the deepest demo ristianity wa%cs.ould lead them co suppose that was g iat a free trade in enough con t._a SYStern perfectly impossible—i .t al ong , Which seemed to carry s en s , of cll w . itti . it. lint they ought to understand the differ ," signal refute ider a ristianity and commerce—while the one prospers oth er sestein of free trade, and flourishes and blooms, the iiirneashnder the same systeni would shrink into narrower of the lens, and wou ld be limited to a small fraction Smi t h P e °Ple. When those two masters, Turgot and to t , is ."n his Wealth of Nations. and others, proposed both inill ate the one to the other, so as to leave them if them - and demand, Thost h was erre). in the propositio of these economists, they ether aye been misless' by the light ' of some false analogy ; in of he,words, there must be some intelligible principle capable , ) , zt _ nig propounded and put into language, end in which the e e ni of .free trade so applicable to the one case was not exp• ghtnapplicable to the other case also. Following then this se tti . t . (generally speaking there was by the free con seriu lon of our nature a sufficient intensity of desire, and con- J ri n d t lY of demand, for the articles which commerce dealt a su s° a l e to call forth an adequate supply of those articles, y no tcommensurae to all the exigencies of human rn sc s e s i c„tY_; but there wee such intensity of desire or of de- for the article of Christian instruction. When it was th st • n ' t c h d in regard to the fiat might with all safety be left t gose S'e of ordinary merchandise to the operation of cle ment ' ll Pnly, it was always pressuppossSfl of the One Cu , . the otheriat it was Sufficiently strong to stimulate and call forth p aess _; arid so it usually was. The longer a man tine in "L 0 1 food, the greater his hunger became, till at lengthe would give any price or make any sacrifice in order to attain it. So it was of other ssnsations which impell man to seek after the other necessaries of existence, as the cold, which made it indispensable to his comfort that he should be clothed and lodged as well as fed. Even when the neces saries of life were refined into exquisite and high wrought luxuries, there was a sufficiently spontaneous and wide spread desire after these to insure a demand. In the physical sense of taste and the vanity of man or his natural love of distinction—the one disposing him to the gratifications of the table, the other at the expence of all he can give away to the decoration of his person, and equipage, and household establishment, many natural liking for these things, afforded a powerful guarantee for that part of his labour which he was willing to put forth, or for that part of his wealth which he was willing to give up, in order to acquire them. Between the love of gain on the one hand, and the love ofenjoyment on the other, there was no danger but that the wheels of commerce would move with velocity enough, and in the very direction to that which was most suited both for the wants of customers and the prosperity of dealers. It sought no other aid or protection at the hands of the Legis lature than the enforcement of justice between man and man. The very reverse of all this held of Christianity, or rather of Christian instruction, viewed as an article which was bene ficial to man, and which, therefore, might he distributed to the extent desirable to mankind throughout the mass of Society. It was not with man in his moral as it was with his criminal nature although it be true that the longer he was without food the greater and more urgent was his desire of food. The more ignorant a man was, the greater, generally speaking, was nut his desire of knowledge. The moral and ani nal wants of man were directly at variance. The more a man was immersed in vice and voluptuousness, not certainly the greater but the less was his desire of virtue and holi ness. ( Great cheering.) There was no natural lin gering er thirsting after righteousness in man--( Hear)—and before Man's moral wartts were supplied the appetite must first be treated. The less a Man had of religion or of righttoestiess the less he desires, and the less he Cares for them —( Cheers.) Thas nature did not go forth in quest oh' Christianity, but Christianity Must go forth in quest of naturei —(Applause.) On the one hands it was the strength of physical appetancy, and on the other hand the desire Of spiritual or moral food, which made all the dif ference. Tha Motel law operated contrary to the physical law of man. rads , were iii inverse proportion, for the less our love of morality or religion, the less we oared foe them. The strength of man's natural appetite guaranted a sufficient demand for food, and rather than want, he would go to the most distant market ; but although they might trust to the natural longing of man for food, which would guarantee his going to the maret, there was no such natural hunger for the good to be obtained in churches, colleges, or schools, and never was there a more unfortunate generalization than that of the economists when they placed upon the same footing articles of trade and commerce with those of Christian and moral education. In the former case bounties were administered although in his opinion very unnecessarily ; but no induce ments were offered for the other, as being in their opinion alike mischievous and unnecessary. So far back as the year 1817, he had had occasion to publish a sermon preached by him .on the lamented death of the Princess Char lotte, when he adverted to the want of Churches, and the appendix subjoined contained his first exposition of his present argument, which he would take the liberty of read ing :—The Reverend Gentleman here proceeded to read a passage from the sermon in question, to the effect that Dr. Adam Smith, in his treatise on the wealth of nations had argued against the building of churches by this nation on the ground that they should be left to the pure operation of demand and supply, like any other article of commerce, but that he seemed to have overlooked one point of difference which was that the natures and propensities of the people would always secure a demand commensurate with the powers of production, but that the appetite for religious instruction, was not so strong. Had the people been left to them selves there would have been large tracts of places without houses of worship ; but the Legislature had met the people half way, and had provided Churches and Pastors in every direction, and had thus secured an efficient and adequate supply. In point of' fact, a great many more came to church now, than if they had been left to themselves. There was' a more abundant supply, and it was that excess of moral and religious good which formed the only argument in favour of a National Establishment which he would now insist upon. The argument of Dr. Smith went to demonstrate the fitness of a natioml establishment of milkmen or butchers, but the peculiarity he bad already alluded to rendered it totally inade quate on the subject of a National Church. This ar gument he (Dr. Chalmers) had been constantly re peating; but it strikingly marked the slow progress which a principle before unheard of made in the public mind, that for fifteen years it was as the " voice of one crying in the wilder ness,"till it was adopted in the House of Peers a year or two ago, almost in the very words he (Dr. Chalmers) had now used— and then the argument, which before had lain hid in paragraphs of obscure authorship, went forth with far greater influence, as the Lord Chancellor's argument."—(Laughter and applause.) Now it was contended that, in early ages, the establishment of Christianity was conducted on a system of free trade. In fact, the converse appeared to be the fact. In all ages the lessons of the Gospel must have been paid for by some one, as the teachers of the Gospel be hoved to be paid; the question hinged upon this,—who paid for those lessons ? The system of free trade was when the purchasers only paid the price of the article. It was an equal violation of that system, whether the aiding bounty came from the state or from associated philanthropists.---( Hear, hear.) On the system of free trade, the demand and supply were left to make their own adjustment —to act and re-act upon themselves, and thus create a self-going mechanism. In other words, the economists contended for the esta blishment of a perfect freedom in trade, as conducing t ) the best interests of commercial affairs. Now, let that asser tion be fully considered. In what way were mankind to be supplied with Christianity in the way best adapted to their moral and religious improvement How had Christianity been introduced ? It was not by a movement from earth to heaver, but from heaven to earth.—(Applause.) The expenses cer tainly were not paid by those by whom the benefit was to be received,—( Hear, hear.) Christianity, in its infancy, was maintained by a few for the good of the many. Christ himself was supported by individuals, and so it was with the Apos tles, who, when they touched at any city, went to the house of some individual upon whose hospitality they subs;sted during their stay, for the good of the whole population. Those Christian worthies when they heard the men of God holding out the broad of life, without money and without price, to the multitude, took the Apostles into their houses. It was not the pee* to whom the Gospel was preached that bore those ex penses, neither was it the case that the receivers of the benefit were the payers when the greatest of the Apostles was main. tained by the labour of his own hands—when the hands of Paul, the tent-maker, provided bread for Paul the Apostle.— ( Applause.) It was not the case when that apostle received from all the other churches that the church of Corinth might not be a cost to any. The expense of the preaching of the gospel was not paid in the shape of price by those who received the benefit, but as a bounty by those who dispensed it.—( Hear, hear, hear.) The expense was borne in every case by one party for the good of another, not as in the ordinary exchange of commodities. while the receiver was the purchaser. They to whom Christianity was preached received not a thing by them bought, but a thing to them given.—( Applause.) It was not true that when Constantine endowed the Church he made the first infringement of the free trade in religion. On the contrary, from the outset it had been departed from ; and when Constantine caine forward with his Imperial grant, he only did that on a large scale which thousands had done on a smaller scale before him—each for the little district in which he presided, or for the maintenance of one to which he was attached.—(l - Icar.) But in his national endowments he followed the track of private endowments. Sometimes they were made perpetual, sometimes temporary ; but by these means the benefits of the Church were extended where they had not been known before. It was trtv_! that in the villages there were many who were unconverted. Paganism in those days was synouimous with heathenism, but universal endowment provided for every little section in a territory, and to a whole host, who had hitherto been unable to hear the blessings of religion. Instead, however, of looking to the dusky past—and, perhaps, be might be pardoned for introducing the subject of free-trade which might not be considered rele vant to the subject, but he held that he wko argued for free trade in commerce was inconsistent unless ha argued for _ . free-trade in the Church—instead of looking to the dusky past, the same conclusion might be dra - wn from the present or modern times. The introduction of Christianity into the land was different from the introduction of merchanl dise. The adventurer in merchandise looked for remuneration in the profits he might make ; but the Missionary adventurer looked to the body that employed him in his enterprize of cha rity. Who undertook to support him effectually in his great work, and who defrayed the expences and costs of the distant voyage he had to make? Who paid for the outfit of the first Missionary vessel that was wafted to the distant region of Otaheite ? Not the natives themselves, who would have wanted the bless ings of Christianity for ever, if we had waited until there had been an effective deniand.—( Cheers.) The undertaking ori ginated with us, and was defrayed to the last farthing out of a fund raised by the benevolent—all missionaries were paid and provided for, not by the receivers of the blessings, but by its dispensers. We did not offer to sell them the Gospel, but offered it to them as a free offerin,—we did not ask a certain price for it, but had recourse to that great bugbear of the economists—a bounty. We put a bounty upon it by offering it without any cost. Some might say that under t h e system of free trade, religi on might maintain itself in a country where it had been already established, but few would have the hardihood to say that in the first instance it could be settled in any effective way under such a system n . o — ta ( iti sCottontuheed method by was ) Properly the question which Christianity was to be introduced, but how it was to be maintained. It might be quite true that the demand must first be created in places where this articl e was unknown. It was even thus that commerce sometimes obtained a footing for itself in foreign countries. Before the na tives article, it must first b e s h ewn to t h em , and they must have a treat of it—even so m us t i t b e w i t h r e li n th gion. In the first instance it must be offered them at the hazard and expence of not the cus t omer, but of the party intend ing to set up the trade. There must be a commencement of a trade, otherwise there would be no continuance of it; the ro ple having got a relish for any particular article, would not in future be able to want it, and the y w ould even send for it both at their own hazard and their own cost. Even so must Christianity be spread in the same mann er . I n or d er to b e it must first be spread, a n d b e p a id for, abl e i t ; maintain itse.q. not by those who the ' L ;-neftt, but by those who give it. '- ft might be very true, titat measures, at bidding of THE SUN, LONIION, FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1838. who were Christians, must be employed for the conver sion of those who were not Christians ; and might it not irtcheh ever took place he true, that after the conve; sion had been effected, and the machine set a-going, ministers would be employed at their own charge, for keeping up the religion from gene ration to genera.tion. There was a great semblance of probability for this in much that might am Isbetelhveessee.exnpTehbnLos. There o tl f iro c u h g r h ts o t u e t nd o o u m r . ownln Britain land, andtherion werethe variousmany hcoutinudtri;,idess es e li t d o inegf a r n a o c d y. f oen e dg q f free trade, taht n ei storinainestiacyr,'e'w' andhearers of an en tire between the buyers and the sellers of the market—where Chris hoethl p er ou P t a t t li tY e — trili h e c t Chris tian instruction was rendered by the one party, and where its change,ow°ffellthereg service eura a ryn s eidc e ef O l instances l l l e p rr l i w- asorfender endowmente db y the to theree. nance of the Clergyman ; and the remuneration for his labour, price, not wholeo n farthing price, often adequate and respectable , was fully made good to hire by those who enjoyed the fruits of his instructions. This opera. tion of demand and supply was often exemplified, both within and without the Church of England. The voluntary principle was often exemplified as well within as with out the Church establ:shment. The system of f ree trade was often exemplified both within and v v i t h. out the Church of England. In filmy a successful Chapel, and many a prosperous Meeting-houso, when, in v i e . toe of a large or wealthy attendance, the produce of the seat rents was sufficient both for the payment of the Minister an t i other expenses of the concern—and most assuredly they had no quarrel with instituting like those, provided on l y a pure Gospel was delivered, and that Christian good was done by them. In whatever way Christ was faithfully and efficiently preached, it was the part of every honest disciple therein to rejoice.--(Cheers.) No one could question the undoubtedgood done in the cause of religion in the proprietary chapels by such Churchmen as Newton, Cecil, Howell, and Daniel Wilson ; or such Dissenters as Doddridge, Watts, and Robert Hall—. Hear)--but it followed not, that because tiere was such fitness in those to supplement the Establishment, th ere was also enough efficiency in them to supersede the gs. tabliShinetit—( Haar, hear)—or that the economy which was found to succeed within the limits of many a select and separate establishment of worshippers; was the proper type of that larger economy, the Object of which was, to extend the blessings tall thitistian knowledge over the whole length and breadth of the land. Of the Chapels founded upon the strict principles:of reciprocal free trade, but a fortunate few could carry forward their work in dependence on that system.--( Hear, hear, hear.) In very many instances, the seat rents, rented Oven by voluntary offerings, were inadequate to the maintenance of the Church, and collections had to be made, to which the public contributed—or journeys undertaken to raise money, whereby the buildings were to be rescued from their sore embarrassments.—( Laughter.) So far from the principle of free trade being supported, the supply of an article being regulatad by an adequately remunerating price, hardly was " the prime cost" returned, of procuring the means of religious instruction.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) In numerous cases the deficiency of the pew rents had to be made up by the contributions of those who had no share in this instruction. What was received on the one hand and given on the other, not being in the relation of equivalent mai ketable exchanges—the remuneration being partly in the nature of a price, partly in the nature of a present which, coming from individuals, would be termed benevolence, and comic g from the State would be termed an endow ment.—(Cheers. ) But the strongest argument re mained behind. Undoubtedly there were hundreds of self subsisting congregations in the land, which did exem plify the principles of a system of free trade in Christianity—( Hear, hear)—many composed of merchants or tradesmen or the best condition of the working classes, who, without any foreign support, did maintain a spiritual provision for themselves.--( Hear, hear.) Over acid above all these, they had many thousands of those places of worship which, but for the aids either of public or private benevolence, would have turned out to be so many failures. They found that in such congregations as fell short of maintaining their pastors, particularly in some of the poorer districts of the country, or in towns containing a larger propor tion of citizens or labourers, the system of free trade did some thing for such congregations, but it did not and could not do it for all. They should leave all that accrued to the Church in the shape of seat-rents, and that, therefore, was a proof of the inadequacy of the system. They had examples every day of the difficulties under which they laboured—the struggles they were obliged to make to keep themselves afloat, and their fre quent drafts upon the charity of the public. However commerce might thrive by its native powers, yet it was not thus with Christianity—it could not upon such a system be spread and carried forward through the whole length and breadth of the land. But, as he had already said, the strongest of all his arguments remained behind. They had compared the progress of those unendowed chapels so far down, and they had found, that in the great majority, looking upon them in the mere light of a commercial speculation, they could .not be upheld. In all probability they would never have been built but in the prospect of some ex ternal aid. When the question was thus put to the extreme limit, and whoa the Church was in circumstances of the greatest difficulty, it would be found that they would serve amply for the accommodation of those who were decently fed—the lower of the middle c'asses, and household servants. But the decisive fact is beyond that limited course which the chapel undertakers have never ventured, and that because they were certain it would be met by a dead loss, to scare them away. In this untrodden fastness there were thou sands upon thousands of what might be called the common people. Notwithst inding a'l that had been done by free trade and Christian benevolence, that had not been over taken. They had thousands and tens of thousands of these outcasts, common people, svl o could not be allured into those houses the Dissenters had p ovided, and there was no hous e provided by the establishment. What VIA- the reason of that? Why, because the estabishment was not properly designed to hold forth Christianity free of charge to the poor.—( Cheers.) And so it would be found in this surplus territory, whether in town or cuuntry, that the great bulk of ordinary work.. men were neither Church nor Chapel goers. That was an assertion that was borne out by every ecclesiastical survey, which had been made in those places where the Church was greatly short of the population, and where the free -trade system had put forth its energies and its powers. Accordingly, in Glasgow no less than 80,000 persons were not Church goers, nor w:.o,:in fact, went to any place of religious worship.—( Hear.) There were 50,000 of the same de scription in Edinburgh, and at least half a million in London, and there were untold millions in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Let any private enquirer go f rrtlr in town or country—in places similarly conditioned as those which he (Dr. Chalmers) had mentioned, and in habited by men who subsisted by handicraft and labour, and he would often find, that where at least half the population should be found every Sunday i n the House of God, not one-fourth were to be found there__ more often not one-sixth, or even one-seventh, or even one _ tenth—( Hear)—that is to say, either in the parish church or in any other house of wurship.—( Hear.) In places where the population had been doubled, or had accummulated still mare, no correspondi. g increase of places of worship. It would invariably be found, that whereas on the principle of f.tee t .ade there was a corresponding increase of shops fur the sup r ly of fool raimen , , but the. Churches, Chapels, and Schools for Learning fell short.—(Hoar.) The dealers of those things necessary to life kept pace with the population, but t'..e dealers in those things necessary to Godliness fell very far short, b oaring a proportion to the population of not more than one-fifth, sometimes one-tenth, and not un f..equently one-twentieth, when the people were left to them_ salves. The dealers accommodated themselves to th e tastes and wants of their customers, and true it was that to the single operation of free trade might safely be left the supply of the physical wants of human nature ; let a bazaar be opened for the supply o f those things demanded by the ever-recurring calls of hunger, and multitudes would flock to it, with money in their hands, to satisfy the eager dealer ; but let a Church be established, and let its bell on each returning Sabbath toll invitingly, and it would fail to attract more than a mere handful, arid more especially if the market price for the accommodation were re quired at their hands. Multitudes in its vicinity would hear the chanting of the psalms within its walls, but they would not be awakened from their apathy.—( Hear, hear, hear.) Because of these things there were hundreds of thousands, nay millions, in our land, left to die in sin. Such was the melan choly and unfortunate doctrine which was taught by the philosophers to the country, and which were sometimes carried into effect by some misguided statesmen who themselves, followers of science, had not drunk deep of Pierian spring. It was well enough that com merce should be left to find their own level, and to adjust themselves according to the demand ; but it was not well that they should be so lost in Christian matters; if so, no attnamt would be made either to instruct the poor or to render them more religious. The benefits which commerce conferred upon the world were all provided by the receiver, and so it ought to be in religious matters. He trusted that the day would soon come when the enlightened philanthropist, when the en lightened patriot or statesman, would acknowledge that the chief good, and also the most gainful of all public benefits which could be conferred on this realm, would be to get the people of all parts to take the les sons of Christianity free from all tax ; that they should be taught the morality of the Gospel, free from all charge, with out taking anything from themselves. There was a departure from all principles of truth when they attempted to liken the glorious truths of the Bible to the ordinary matters of com merce. The best and greatest interests of human society must not be so trifled with.—(Loud cheers.) After all, there was not only a great deal of fa'se sentiment but also a great deal of false arithmetic, whether its expense should be defrayed in the furtherance of liberality by the hands of private individuals or from the public treasury. lie had made use for the first time of the word " cheapness." Ile would here take leave once for all to confess that he had no sympathy whatever with what had been called " the spirit of the age."—(Great cheers.) The very worst effects were to be dreaded from it. Every thing was made a question of finance. Science, scholarship, religion, with all that could grace the inhabitants of the country, were vulgar ised and brought down to a common standard—(Hear, hear)—the standard of the merchant in the counting house. Some years ago there was a fight as to whe ther the trigonometrical survey should be allowed to go on. But by one vote it was allowed, and would hereafter be looked upon as a great national index to the guidance of our posterity. The spirit of the age made one tremble for a fearful re surrection of the old Gothic spirit among us, and made one think we were within a hair's-breadth of spthesespirit o n f o bi the enterprisesage— ai tag qu n a sp sh a e r d i g n 4 regime of hard 11 14 hunger-bit 0 11 9oetionv ; before whose - remorseless reign and ravening pruning -hook lay starved the noblest interests of the commonwealth—a monster which, under the disguise of patriotism, runs over the whole length of the land, and cares not if both religion and philosophy s h ou ld exp i re. A National Estabishment is the Ost expedient for pervading the general mini abh the lessons of Christianity and it was not on the principles of free trade, which meant " let alone," Laughter)—that those high interests were to be effectu ally seeured.—( Cheers.) Having disposed of one boasted substitute for a religious establishment, that of the economists, he (Dr. Chalmers) should, in his next lecture, on Tuesday, endeavour to expound objections to another scheme which was generally held to be the same as—but which was, in many respects, essentially different from this that he had been remarking upon. fie meant—the scheme of the volun taries. The Reverend Doctor concluded amidst loud ani general cheering. HANOVER SQUARE ROOMS. LORD BURGHERSH'S OPERA, 11, TORNEO, At these Rooms, yesterday, we had the pleasure of witness ing an extraordinary spectacle. A crowd of rank and beauty assembled to hear the first rehearsal of a neW opera by an English Nobleman; one, however, not more distinguished by his rank than by his talents, It was a fearful ordeal to pass through—an amateur sub. rnitting his work to public criticism, surrounded not only bw a large portion of the rank and beauty of the fashionable %mood, but COngregating in his audience nearly all the distin guished members of that most critically inharmonious pro fession—music. Our readers are not from this introduction to expect that •we are about to make any apologies either on behalf of the Noble Author, or of those who performed his work. Neither require it at our hands. Right gallantly has Lord Burghersh passed this fearful ordeal, and gained laurels fur himself which we cordially wish him long life to enjoy. He has added one more t 6 the intellectual ertjoymeats of the age. Il Torneo, or the Tournament, is founded. Ott the following artoutiksur. This dratnatit ottbjett refers to the days of chivalry, and is tattell fl'oin English history. Alfred, brother to Amerigo, high constable of the kingdom, having been overcame, and wounded in a duel by an unknown cavalier, was found by Ed ward, who came up a short time afterwards, in such a pitiable state;that, although previously his enemy, he caused him to be conveyed, by the help of his esquires, to his own castle, and lavished on him every care that could relieve him and re store him to health. Alfred recovered from the wounds he received in the duel, but his haughty disposition could ill brook having been humbled by Edward, nor could he endure to be indebted to him: and, being overwhelmed by this feel ing, killed himself in the very room where Edward had re ceived him, after having, however, declared in a letter, which be wrote, that this act of desperation was the effect of his own free will. A certain Ethebald, the secret enemy of Edward, was the first who entered the room in which Alfred was lying dead ; he saw the paper—concealed it—and then accused Edward as the murderer of Alfred. Edk, ard, not knowing how to justify himself under the appearance of so much guilt, was obliged to save himself by flight from the rigour of the laws, leaving a young daughter to the care of one of his relations. Alfred left at his death a son, very young, who was received with paternal kindness by his uncle, who concealed him and kept him in ignorance of his origin and of his relations, the better to protect him from the hatred and the snares of his father's enemies. When grown up, he presented him at court by the name of " The Unknown," and entreated the King to pro claim a tournament, in which the young cavalier might display his valour. Edward took advantage of this favourable circum stance to return to London, after an absence of fifteen years, to see his daughter again, of whose fate he was ignorant, after the death of the relation to whom he had confided her. The arrival of Edward in London, the day of the tourna ment, and the circumstances that led to the discovery of his innocence, form the plot of the drama. DRAMATIS PERSON,E. The King of England Helen, a L a d y o f t h e C ourt, supposed to be the Duchess of Seymour's Daughter, but Daughter to Edward Mrs. H. Btsuor. Edward, an English Cavalier, exiled as the supposed Murderer of Albertu's Father IvANOFF. Alberto, surnamed " The Unknown" Miss F. WrNuitakt. Chorus of Knights and Ladies. Leader and Conductor ...... Mr. F. CRAMER. Conductor Mr. C. LUCAS. Orchestra and Choruses, by the Students, the Associates, and Professors of the Royal Academy of Music. A very interesting drama it will be seen the story affords ; and now we have to deal with " it maestro ;" how has he performed the voluntary task he has imposed upon himself? We have not now to do with the Noble Lord, but with the musician. Methinks we hear the expression, Oh, the music is very well for a Lord—and the envious might shelter themselves by this and similar subterfuges to detract from the merits of the author. We have no hesitation in stating our opinion that this opera is not only a work of art, but of great merit, and we very much doubt whether there is to be found in the host of those who live by professing music, one in a hundred of them who could produce any thing as a whole approaching the ex cellence of the opera with which Lord Burghersh has favoured the public. _ The crowded state of our columns prevents us from support ing the opinion we entertain of this opera by a detail of the many beauties scattered throughout ; and we regret this the less because they must of necessity, from their intrinsic merit, become very popular. Had we more space wo would select from the chorusses, from the concerted pieces, and from the solos, portions of very great excellence ; and from the m e i n . dies we might direct attention to sonic of surpassing be auty . We make only one selection to corroborate this opinion, by pointing out the 6th scene, the finale to th e first Act, i n w hi c h beautiful ideas arc in rapid succession developed, Thi s scene ti va c io b r a o 7in ,cc g c c . ,hoaru.ds,i!o‘; b o e.t h w ! o ;ul t l i ' le A) k r i i n t g deg an li d anni tho n o o p r e t n en t w o i t d h i 'unknown follows—" To nu choilis is then resumed, in which the motive on the worao " 0 Stella the splendi," is charming. A beautiful trio follows, after which a quartett succeeds these i words— Rapido come l vento Sparito d qui it placer E it breve meo contento, a s s ue e c n e e s o s red. Si cangia in for dolor." in an t d he w. The exquisite beauty of this portion of the Finale elicited e d m ° w u e s r applause,ie We hope to have other opportunities afforded us of hearing with which the efforts of o er f a tile noble amateur has been crowned. The " Students, the Associates, and Professors of the the most u na a i l i .i i Royal Academy of Music," the wh o l e per f ormance, vocal and instrumental, with the single exc e pti on of Signor Ivanoff, b e i ng i n their hands, deserve the greatest praise for the manner in which tie) , assisted the Noble Lord. To attempt to give the names of the more distinguished portion of the audience, would be impossible ; but in all pro bability it was the most fashionable audience that ever assem bled in the rooms. FATAL AND MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT.—As Nlr. Ford, one of the Wesleyan Mi n i sters this town, was oing with_ Mrs. Ford, on W e d nesday, from Spondon to Borrowash, in a low four-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse, on going down Stoney lane it began to kick and ran away. After a while Mr. Ford requested Mrs. Ford to get out behind, but she unfo r t unate l y e i ther threw herself out, or was pitched upon her head by the motion of the carriage. Mr. Ford kept his seat for some time, but apprehending danger at a turn of the road he threw himself out of the carriage. The horse galloped on to Borrowash , and stopped at Mr. Towles;' bosh Mr. and Mrs. Ford were conyeyed to Mr. John Drewry%, at Spondon, and we regret to add that Mr. Ford'e ' was broken, and that Mrs. Ford had received so violent awc-onwt2 sion on the head as to occasion insensibility, which caused her death about three hours afterwards. Mr. Ford, we are glad to state, is doing well. An inquest was held on th e b o d y of Mrs. Ford, before Mr. Mozley. Coroner, last night, and a verdict of accidental death returned.—Derby Reporter. CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE. —From the following it will be seen that clandestine marriages may occur in the the Church itself, nay, that one actually has taken place &Ling the past week in this town. The banns of marriage between Mr. Thomas Cox, of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and mi ss Steer, of Mickleover in this county, were recently pub lished in St. Werburgh's Church, (both patties, of course, being parishioners of St. Werburgh's). On Friday, 13th April, a couple presented themselves to the Minister, and were married by him as Mr. Cox and Miss Steer . both were strangers to the Rev. - Gentleman. No sconer had the newly married couple left the church to ruminate on the solemnity of its marriage service, than the real Mr. Cox and Miss Steer entered, and to the great astonishment of the minister de manded that he would marry them, stating who they were. In vain did h e assure them that he had either - just concluded marrying them, or that they could not be the above-mentioned parties, the publication of whose banns bad just expired. They felt nevertheless quite satisfied with their own identity, and still continued to demand his performance of the cere mony. The minister, however, could not be prevailed upon to comply • h e could not marry two couples with one pair of banns, and after a considerable remonstrance, the disappointed party left the church and obtained a license, by which they were mar ried, we believe, in the same church the following day. By this dishonest proceeding, Mr. Cox was not only robbed of his half crown for publishing the banns, but was put to the expense of getting a licence.—Derby Reporter. MANUIrACTURED CANARIES.—A man, named John Thompson has recently been going about Manchester and neighbourhood, s e lli ng sparrows painted yellow, which he puffs off as c anaries. His practice is to hold the bird in his hand, letting the head only be visible, and he sometimes states that he has found it. In several instances he has succeeded I but he was found out, and a few weeks ago he was brought up at the New Bailey, and committed for foarteen days. He had I scarcely got out of prison befor he re-commenced his old prac tice; and on the 4th instant he succeeded in selling one of his painted sparrows as a canary to a soldier for ninepence. He was brought up at the New Bailey, and charged with this offence. The soldier attended, and stated that the prisoner told him he would not have sold the canary, but he had a long way to go home, and did not want to carry it. A woman who was in the Court said she had also purchased a DP;::ited spar row of the prisoner, who assured her it• was a good canary. Mr. Leicester stated house last week, he saw the prisoner at his his •^— —eavourin g to s e ll one o r th e s p arrow s to vont, but, knowing him, he ordered him away. The prisoner said lie wanted to leave the country, for he could do nothing in it, because he was published in the newspapers. tic "4 cor4lnlitteci f9r Que month,—_j anchesiev C4GinfiCitt. ELECTION COMMrI"[EES. (YESTERDAY.) (From our Second Edition of last night.) KINGSTON-ON-HULL. The vote of H. Spendlove was struck off. Thorny Phillips Bartlett was then objected to, The wife of the voter was about to be called to give evidenci in suppot t of the objection to the voter, which Mr, TIIESIGER objected to, and contended that it was a well-known rule of law that a wife could not be heard to girt evidence against her husband. The Committeft announced that they would give their deci sion upon the objection to-morrow. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. 110 USE OF COMMONS, API:IL 26. In consequence of the ballots for the Great Yarmouth and Stirlingahiro Committees (the Norfolk went off, we under stand), the gallery was not open till half past four. Several private Bills were advanced a stage, and some peti tions presented, which, owing: to the noise in the House w" Were tvholly unable to catch. LONDON GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY BILL Mr. CRA WFO R D presented a petition from the London and Birmingham Railway CtAnpany, against any further Vi tensiott 91 the powers of the Grand Junction Railway r_nipany. Mr. H UTT presented a Petitiva f!'" :n Marilebonc and Camden -town, to the sA..:*MI Zfiect. The Noise in the House was here so loud, that The SPE AKER said—There really is no possibility of carrying on the business of the House : nothing can be beard. Mr. DUNCOMBE presented a petition in favour of the Bill. The Hon. Member then moved its second reading. Mr. HALL felt it his duty to oppose the second reading of the Bill ; and he would, as shortly as possible, state the ob jeetions on which he grounded that opposition. A few years age a Bill was passed, enabling the Grand Junction Railway Company, to make the terminus of their rail Way in Skinner -street, London. He would be able to show the House that no steps had been taken towards the prosecution of the powers vested in the Company from the time the Bill had passed, down to the pre sent time. The line of road through which the railroad was intended to run consisted of property of the most valuable description, and although the line was only 21 miles long the sum required to purchase the property would b: at least 250,000/. He was prepared further to show, that last year when the accounts were audited th ey only had 5,000/. or 6,000/. in hand, and in the month of December last, that sum had dwindled down to 5001. It had been stated by their engineer, that it would require 600,0001. to complete the line, and under such cir cumstances it was quit° absurd for the projectors to come down to that House and ask for further powers, when they bad made no use of those entrusted to them, and when it was utterly impossible for them to raise anything like the sum required. The Railway was well known in the city,, not by the name of the Grand Junction ; but it went under the title of the Grand Humbug Railway, and busi ness was done on it on the Stock Exchange under the name of the Humbug Company. Under these circumstances he should most decidedly oppose the Bill, and he should moue as an amendment that the Bill be read a second tiu- c this day six months. STIRLINGSBIK: ELECTION. Mr. CHALMERa'3 here appeared at the bar, with a re duced list of the Committee to try the merits of the pe tition against the return for Stiriingshire, and the names were called over by the Clerk at the table as follows ;--Hon. H. R. Wcstenra, John R. Rundle, Wil liam Pinney, General Sharpe, H. D. Baillie, H. G. Ward, A. Chapman, Mark Phillips, George Wilbraham, John A. Yates, Captain Chetwvnd. LONDON JUNCTION RAILWAY. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE submitted to the House that the Honourable Member for Marylebone had made out no case for postponing. the second reading of the Bill for six months. It was not a Bill to establish a new railroad. His Honourable Friend, the Member for Marylebone, had stated that the Company had not taken any steps to carry on their Bill. Now the fact was that eleven thousand two hundred shares had been subscribed for ; 40,0001. had been paid ; and large sums had been expended in the purchase of lands, and all that the parties a s k e d f or was two years to complete their purchases. His lion. Friend, the Member for Mary_ lebone, had stated that this Company was known upon the Stock Exchange, not by the name of theGranl Junction Rail way Company, but the Grand Humbug Company. He was not aware whether that was so or not ; but he was induced:to think that some one h a d h um b ugge d hi s Hon. Friend, in inducing him to make that statement to the House.—(Laughter.) He trusted, therefore, that the House would allow the Bill to go into Committee, where it might he shown whether the measure was entitled to the character his Hon. Friend had given it, He (Mr. D.) felt convinced that the measure was g bf great utility, or he would not have supported it, Sir R. INGLIS trusted that the. HonLurable Member for Nlarylebene would persevere in his motion, that the Bill was not entitled to the sanction of that House. For his own part he must have far more satisfactory statements than had been made by the Honourable Member for Finsbury, before he could be itidwcod to give his sanction to the Bill, A Bill for the fqrmatioa of this Company had been passed no less than two years ago, and out at' the capital of 600,0001., not more than 10,0001, had been laid out in the purchase of land for the purposes of the Com pany. Under such circumstances, he ounsidered that they were not in a position to call upon the House to give them additional powers. He should, therefore, second the tuition of the Hon. Member for Marylebone, that the Bill should be read a second time that day six months, and he trusted that he would divide the House upon it. Mr. P, THOMSON said that if he was called upon to vote an the present occasion, he should certainly be in favour of the second reading of the Bill. In hit opinion the Bill ought to go into Committee, in order that Honourable Mem bers might be enabled to satisfy themselves 48 to the truth of the various statements, No one would be precluded from op posing the Bill in 4 future stage. After a few words from Lord TEIGNMOUTH, The gallery was cleared for i division. The House divided, when there appeared— • For the second reading Against it B4 Majority —9 The Bill was then read a second time. GREAT YARMOUTH ELECTION COMMITTEE. The Clerk of Committees appeared at the Bar with 'Lite list of Members on this Committee, which was read as follows : The Hon, A'Court Holmes, Mr. Brodie, Lord Marcus Hill, Mr. Bailey (of Sudbury), the Hon. E. Grimston, G. Rushout, H. Hurst, Col. Thomas, E. ,Vivian, E. Baker, G. Byng. DEAL PIER BILL. On the motion of Sir T. TROWBRIDGE the Deal Pier Bill was read a second time, and ordered to he committed. BARNSLEY SMALL DEBTS. On the motion of Sir G. STRICKLAND the Barnsley Small Debts Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be corn rnitted. On the motion of the same Hon. Member, the Buckstone and Elland-bridge Road Bill, the Wakefield an d H a lif ax R oa d Bill, and th e S a lt er h e bb c l Road Bill were severally read a second time, and ordered to be committed. LAW OF COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. WAK LE Y gave notice that, on the Order of the Day for going into Committee on the Law of Copyright Amend ment Bill, he should move an amendment that the Bill be committed that day six months. FOREIGN SLAVE TRADE. Sir R. INGLIS gave notice that on the 10th of May he should call the attention of the House to the Foreign Slave Trade. GREAT YARMOUTH ELECTION. Mr. RUMBOLD wished to call the attention of the House and the Honourable Baronet opposite to the cir cumstances of the petition that was presented last night relative to the Great Yarmouth Election That petition stated that Mr. Barth, the Mayor of Great Yar mouth, had absented himself from that place, for the pur pose of preventing the service of the Speaker's warrant upon hint. • After such a statement, he (Mr. R.) was sur prised that the first person he saw, upon coming down to that House, was Mr, Barth himself; and upon his asking him the question, ho had assured hi m t h at i t was not his inten tion to absent himself on that account ; and from the know ledge that he (Mr. R.) had of Mr, Barth, he was sure that he was a gentleman incapable of so doing. Mr. Barth stated that he was obliged to leave Great Yarmouth suddenly, for the ,purpose of attending to his business in other parts of the country. Under such circumstances, he ( Mr. R.) could not but think the petition had been got up very incautiously. His only object in mentioning the subject now was to set Mr. Barth right with the House, and to assure them that it was the farthest from his thoughts to evade the service of the order of the House, Sir THOMAS FREMANTLE felt great s.ttisfaction in finding that Mr. Barth had appeared. Indeed he felt convinced that after the discussion of last night he would d o so. I f, therefore, anything had fallen from him last night hurtful to the feelings of Mr. Barth h . e was sorry for it, but s till h e could not but adhere to the opinions he had then expressed. Mr. RUMI3OLD was sorry that the lion, Member had not exculpat e d th e c h aracter o f M r. Barth, without, at the same time, casting out an insinuation, COUNTY COURTS BILL. Mr. PAC KINGTON wished to know whether it was the intention of the Noble Lord opposite to proceed with the County Courts Bill upon the 2d of May. He asked this because he believed it was very generally wished that the consideration of that measure should be deferred to a later period. Lord J. RUSSELL did not wish to hurry on the second reading of that Bill. It was his intentio n , t h ere f ore, not to pr o p ose th e second reading on the 2d of May, but he should probably do so in the course of the week follow ing, or the week after that. He (Lord John Russell) wished to ask the Hon. Member for Dublin whether he would not postpone the motion of which he had given notice with mpect to slavery in the West Indian colonies, His Hon. Friend the Under Secretary for the Cr:;,onies, i n consequence of a domestic calamity, would 'no unable to be in his place, and it would be incmentent to bring the subject forward in his absenz. Mr. O'CONNELL felt that it would be inconvenient to go into a lengthened discussion of the matter in the absence of the Hon. Baronet, and as the cause of that absence was one for which all must feel, he would without hesitation postpone his motion for a fortnight. There were several papers for which he had given notice that be would move, which he be loved would not be objected to i but s isr the absence of the , /:S • :. - 7 - 1" . -o_.--j-,-)-y-r..,- --, . J. BUSINESS OF THE SESSIO .!' .0: . , r:a1- - oi: . Lord 'JOHN RUSSELL then said he rose Ve-t*' - 4:re' L l, ) after the 14th of May, for one month, On Ate.ltiiyitOrtee :re'"'' day in the week be given to the CrlOttl,or -44 - - --e -. \' " Day. He did so upon two grounds ; first, it '‘'fi r Vr5,.., 11: desirabl e t h at Bil ls should be proceeded with in order to be IV sent up t o th e ot h er House as early as possible. Secondly— in the early part of the Session several days were taken tip in men ing for leave to bring in Bills ; but after they u ere brought in they became Orders of the Day. U a shuuld therefore move, that after the 14th of May, Orders of the Day should have precedence of Notices on Thursdays, for one month. Mr. WILLIAMS thought the motion of the Noble Lard, if carried, would operate very prejudicially on those who were not members of the Government.—( Hear, hear.) Ho should cestainly oppose the motion of the Noble Lord, Sir R. INGLIS also objected to the motis n. He further stated that, having risen immediately after the privall business had ecncluded, to give notice for a motion regardiog Vie Foreign Slave Trade on the 1.1:h ,May s lip submitted Ow, he vial the firA who had given pnhlie nonce ; that thin notice was clearly within the fiftceit ti.ty s a ll owe d 11 t h e o rthirii; that no other p . c.ron i!!', the Houszo 6uld be p erm it te d to Intel-Flo and between that routioi, 4.nd !..'ir. GOUL B URN said the pr o p os i t i on o f the Noble I;Urd 7 was one which appeared to be commencing at tht ,011, period in a Session when attendance i n Parlial - rten t was under, stood to be greatest, and when the ::‘'rrention of Members was more closely directed to public business than at any other, to claim for the Government a larger proportion of precedency than any former Government had attempted to claim. Tbs.. No. blo Lord appeared in his argument to consider t t oe only ohjett of a Notice-day was t o alow Members opportunity for bringing forward private Bills. That was altogether a new doctrine.—( Hear.) He (Mr. Goulburn) had ever considered it the constitutional view of a Notice-day, that it should giheve meas any i u n re de pendthe G ent Member the opportunity of ques tioni-.,g ts of over( Hear, hear)_rnel the tendency of the Nobl e L or d' s mot i on, if carried, 1 :;ould b e to curtail those opportunities to a very great ersteno._( Hear.) It was not merely the immediate exclucioni I ".,ut the ulti ground of his mate evil likely to arise, that form e d tl : ,, objection. He complained of the Noble Lord having adopted the plan in the ver,y leeat of the Session, when the, time of IlemnOrable :viembers was most called to putolic affairs,._; hear, hear.) There might be an accumula.*.ion of business on the books of the House. But why was that ? Parliament had been sitting since November last--(Loud cries of " Hear, hear")—and if Government had brought forward for discussion measures of an important character —if they had done so, there would not have been such Bet accu mulation of business. They had arrived now at the be ginning of May, and no financial statement - had been laid before the House.—(Hear, hear.) lo:ardly anyostponed of the estimates had been g one t h roug h ; tt cy h ad been p ft-em time to time; and now, 114 their only resourse, Govorn ment called upon then, to abandon one of the nights when Members might hope to have an orpo:tunity of bringing questions affecting their constituents before the House. Oa these grounds lie most decidedly objected to the proposition of the Noble Lord. Sir J. GRAHAM said the Hon. Member for Coventry had (dearly pointed out the diffieulties likely to arise. Ho ( Sir J. Graham) had a subject to bring before the House; himself, and lie deeply regretted ti:e absence of the Lrrd Advocate for Scotland, without whom he could not proceed.—( Hear.) The subject referred to the Ranxburgh election, where the privileges of the freeholders had been grossly violated. It appeared that every day up 'to the loth of May was occupied, and yet by adopting the present rule, all the Noble Lord expected to gain was tlY fee days for Government business. The Notice-days were Cie only opportunities independent Members },ad of d; scussing the measures of Government, and if they were now further restricted, it would be most unjust and uooonstitutional. lie wished t o k now w h et h er t i ne House C lanprepared to sanction such restraints as were proposed? He hoped the Noble Lord would reconsider the proposition, as the matter now in dispute was only three days. Col. DA VIES thought that the Right Hon. Baronet had not dealt fairly by the Government, in taunting them with not having brought subjects of an important character before tk e House during the periods that were allotted to them. H e (Colonel Davies) thought, if any persons were to blee ae f o r that it w s a the Memb ers on th e Ri ght Hon. Baronet's side of House. Unless gentlemen wished to sit in 'that flouSn.: till September or October, they must make lye their minds to give more time to the Government. Lord JOHN RUSSELL could not say any,hing more in answer to the Honourable Ge - otientan opposite than what he had previotealy stated, .The other House comp'ai ted of Bills twine,- 'sent up to them at a time when ,Memo er3 of neither r • '••• .touse gave strict attendance, and measures woe: neglected, not so much on account of' their merits, as tleey were postponed in consequence of a want of' time for giving thema prop er consideration. —( H ear , hear.) When. s uc h a p i ca was made it was desirable to begin now, not ie. * July, to give snore time to the Orders of the Day. He wished that it should Aso longer be stated that the Government did not bring its measures for discussion, when the fact was that there was not time enough for the considerat;.on of those measures already brought forward. The preesent Session commenced with a severe pressure of busineas ; for not only had they the proper business of the Session, namely, the Canada Bill and the Slavery Bill, but they had the postponed business of previous -years,_( Hear.) They had also remaining the measures relative to the Cathedral and other Church Reforms, as also those Bills re !ative to the administration Of justice.—( Hear, hear.) The proposition still appeared to him reasonable, and he thought that it would much forward the business ef the session, because, though there were Lilly three dee, involved, the question really was, whether they silvO:hi send Bills up to the o th er H ouse i n such time as to t . ~e them - June and July for consideration ; or whether thel' saottld be sent up at such a time as to leave no time for thetr consideration at all. If the House agreed with him, much important business would be got through—if not, it. could not be the fault of the Government. Mr. HUME admitted it was 'of great importance that the measures of Government should be as speedily as possible introduced. But thee situation iii which the House might be placed was, the, the Government might give plenty of no tices, and l's - -ing on nothing—(" Hear," and l aug, h ter ) — the Coe'lnquenee of which would be, that it would be uncertain On ';ihat days the Government business would come on. H o would not be inclined to object to the proposition of the Noble Lord, if the business were brought on upon d ays for which notice might be given.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. SHIEL said th at one reason struck hi:n'as not an un important one, which would induce the House to agree to the proposition of the Noble Lord. It had been stated in the House of Lords that the Irish Corporation Bill, the Irish Tithe Bill, and the Irish Poor-law Bill, should be by them considered as portions of one measure ; and that the Irish Corporation Bill would not be passed unless th Poor Law Bill and the Irish Tithe Bill should be lard before, their Lordships at the same time. It fol lowed therefore that if they sent up one of those measures only, the Lords would come to the resolution they formerly adopted of rejecting it, until the other two were also sent up. What wenld be the result ? Wh y , t h at t h ey would do nothing with respect to any one of those measures, unless the other two ".ere brought on. It was necessary, therefore, that those three measures should go up together to the other House. For 'that reason, if for ilo other, he should be induced to support the proposition of the Noble Lord.—( Hear, hear.) Sir R. PE EL seid he should give his vote against the mo tion of the Noble Lord, as he was persuaded, if once sanc,ioned as a precedent, it would in future Sessions be followed 'op by similar motions, even at an earlier period.--( Rear, hear.) The Noble Lord had said that measures of the ; ; reatest im portanee—the Civil List, the Canada Bill, tle e Irish Poor- Law Bill—had occupied the time of the Howe:. What was to be the reward of Honourable Members? Why, that they were to be curtailed of all but one day in the week, for bringing on measures respecting the getter.' policy of the Government„—( Cries of " Hear, hear.") Would the House have passed the resolution restricting. lion. Members from giving notices for periods extending to mote than a fortnight afterwards, if they had anticipated that it was to he followed up by this resolution ?—(llear.) It was considered actually an intrusion to bring forward ques tions of foreign policy upon the attention of the House. Ile protested against the extension of such a doctrine. Con. sidering that they had been sent there for the pur pose of legislation, he thought such a restriction as was now proposed would be most injurious.—( Hear, hear.) The present Government was food of appealing to precedents, but he would ask, would not the present ar rangement form an excellent precedent for the next session ? —( Cheers.) He protested against it as establishing a prece dent, which be appealed to by Governments stronger than the present —( A laugh)—and which would most injuriously con tract the privileges of the Members of that House.—(Cheers.) After a few words from Colonel DAVIES in explanation, Lord JOHN RUSSELL would repeat that, considering the present state of public business, it would be impossible to carry more than a few great measures in the course of a Session if two days a week only wore allowed to the Government. If the i prop s o tion was objected to by the House, he (Lord J. Russell) would not press it, but the delay caused would only furnish ground for the rejection of measures in the other House. He would not press the motion.—(" Oh, oh I" and cheers, ) NOTICES. Mr. WILLIAMS thought that some arrangement should tike place in the House relative to notices, as at present the greatest inconvenience arose with respect to them. lie thought there ought to be some plan devised for putting them in. He bad riven notice of a motion for a day after the holidays, and, now he was told others had precedence of him. Mr. P. THOMSON thought that the best coo lee to adopt would be to adher e t o t h e old plan of notices being riven in the Hou se , an d t h en taken in retat.l.on. He thought ' the notices that had been given should '.;Low be taken in their turn. Lord J. RUSSELL gave - notice that in Committee of S''!:pply to-morrow he should first bring forward the ordnance estimates and the charges f o r yeomanry corps. PRISONS Lord J. RUSSELL rose to mco. 4 e for leave to b r i ng in hie Bill for the better ordering of prisons. Thi s Bi l l was intro duced by his Noble Friend into the House, and i n t h e merely a supplement to that which Upper had already b een intro _ then thin state of the House he did not think it necessary lo discuss it. He would merely state that one of its chief fea tures was the power proposed to be given to justices as to the classification of prisoners according to circumstances, for it was found that in some cases the felons were less dangerous than the other inmates convicted of minor offenc es , The Bill also proposbd to do away with that most injueious practice of putting prisoners into authority as gaoler:s and wardsmen— Hon. Baronet, he would also postpone his Km to them.